Filling carrier for shuttleless looms



Feb. 19, 1963 E. REMINGTON FILLING CARRIER FOR SHUTTLELESS LOOMS Filed April 17, 1961 IN VEN TOR. ELL/arr L. REMINGTON A TTORNE Y ,v

United States 3,077,905 FILLING CARRIER FOR SHUTTLELESS LOOMS Elliott L. Remington, Hopkinton, Mass, assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass, a corporation of Maine Filed Apr. 17, 1961, Ser. No. 103,301 Claims. (Cl. 139-122) This invention pertains to improvements in filling carriers for use in shuttleless looms, that is, looms of the type in which the filling is supplied from a source outside of the shuttle or filling inserting means itself.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a novel filling carrier that is separable from the carrier inserting member.

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vided with a formed opening at its lower aft portion and the internal structure conforms generally to the contour of a wedge shaped thrust block which forms the free end of the carrier inserting member or flexible tape. The thrust block is adapted to be received by the formed opening and by any suitable anchoring means such, for example, as a cap screw positioned within the carrier and whose threaded portion protrudes into the formed opening and thence into a tapped hole located on the forward surface and centerline axis of said thrust block, the carrier is securely locked in operating position.

It is a further object of the invention to devise a detachable carrier which shall be guarded against inter ference with the warp threads between which it passes and with the filling yarn being inserted.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a detachable filling carrier that is easily removed from or assembled to the carrier inserting member while on the loom, thus eliminating the necessary and excessive time element involved for replacing filling carriers of conventional design.

Further objects will become apparent from the following disclosure.

In so-called shuttleless looms, that is, those looms in which filling is supplied from an outside source and is not carried to and fro through the shed by the shuttle orcarrier itself, it is common practice to introduce each pick of filling by two reciprocating members, one of which will hereinafter be referred to as an inserter or inserting member and the other of which receives or has transfer-red to it that loop of filling projected into the shed by the inserting member will hereinafter be referred to as a filling receiving or filling extending carrier.

The filling extending carrier is usually provided with a hooked element by which the filling is seized and trapped and through which the filling is allowed to move endwise so that the function of the carrier to which the loop of filling is transferred is that of drawing through or extending an end which will have been severed to a predetermined length to complete the pick.

In looms of the type described above a great deal of time is required to remove and replace filling carriers which have become worn or where changes are to be made to a preferred type of carrier for a particular fabric when changing from one style fabric to another. A change of this nature with carriers of the prior art such as those in United States Patents Nos. 2,586,638 and 2,705,508 necessitate removal of the carrier reciprocating member or flexible tape along with the carrier itself which forms an integral part thereof. Should such a carrier be removed as a result of wear or breakage, a new carrier is required plus the added cost of a new tape or the expense of removing the old tape and providing a new carrier thereon. The novel characteristic of the instant invention concerns itself particularly with the inserting member whose novel features permit this carrier to be disassembled from the free end of the flexible tape or assembled thereto without removing other parts from the loom which could affect important gauged settings.

The actual means by which carriers herein described function with regards to the method of projecting them into the shed and transferring the filling from one carrier to the other forms no part of the present invention; however, to give a more complete understanding of these particular functions reference is hereby made to the disclosure of United States Patent No. 2,705,508.

According to the invention the inserting carrier is pro- Positioning of the carrier is accomplished by tightening the cap screw which in turn causes the carrier to be drawn rearwardly with respect to the thrust block to a point where the conforming surfaces of these two members are wedged together forming a single operating unit.

The invention will hereinafter be described in greater detail by reference to the accompanying figures of drarwing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view partially in section of a filling carrier to which the invention has been applied;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 except shown in side elevation;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the wedge shaped thrust block to which the filling carrier assembles;

FIG. 4 is an end view of the wedge shaped thrust block shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of that portion of the carrier to which the invention relates and by means of dotted lines illustrates the method employed for attaching it to the flexible tape;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 2.

Now referring to the figures of drawing, in FIGS. 1 and 5 there is shown at 10 a' flexible tape or carrier inserting member which is preferably used to reciprocate the thread inserting carrier generally indicated by the numeral 11. The forward portion of the carrier or that part which projects a loop of filling part way through the shed is of a box-like structure and includes a notch 12 in the top planar portion and a notch 13 in the lower surface which cooperates therewith. This portion of the inserting carrier forms no part of the present invention; however, reference to United States Patent No. 2,928,427 will give a more complete understanding of its intended function.

. The lower rearward portion of the carrier 14 is provided with a formed opening 15 the internal structure of which conforms for the most part to the form of a wedge shaped thrust block indicated generally by numeral 16. Thrust block re is attached by brazing or in any other satisfactory manner to tape 10 and is adapted to assemble within the formed opening 15 of the carrier 11 itself. Within the carrier and forwardly of opening 15 there is provided a wall or bulk head 17 of sufficient thickness to accommodate the head and shank portion of a cap screw 1.8 in a counterbored through hole 19 disposed horizontally along the centerline axis of said bulk head 17. The thrust block 16 has a forward vertical surface 20 in which there is provided a horizontally disposed bottom tapped hole 21 which presents itself in mating relationship with the counterbored through hole 19 upon positioning the carrier on the thrust block lti. Assembly of these two members is then accomplished by turning the threaded portion of cap screw 18 into the threads of the tapped hole 21. Tightening of this screw causes the head portion of said screw to seat itself in the counterbore of the through hole 19 which in turn causes the carrier to be drawn rearwardly with respect to thrust block 16 to a point where the wedge shaped surfaces 22 and 23 of said thrust block meet the mating or matching wedge surfaces 24 and 25 within the formed opening 15.

In operation, this carrier enters the warp shed to present a loop of filling to a companion carrier which in turn extends said filling loop through the remainder of the shed in a manner well known to those farniliar with the art. It enters the med and is withdrawn therefrom free from interference with warp threads. As the carrier enters the shed the lower warp threads are caused to be carnmed downwardly by surface 26 that forms the lower front surface of the thrust block 16. Surface 26 projects forwardly and is positioned within a recess 27 that forms the forward end of opening 15. The lower warp threads therefore are cammed downwardly from the lower surface of the carrier itself when it enters the shed eliminating the possibility of yarn interference at that point. The upper surface of the carrier gradually tapers downwardly at its trailing end as at 27' blending with the aft portion of thrust block 16 whose upper surface also tapers downwardly as at 28 to a point where it blends into the flexible tape 16 to which it is attached. Member 26 at its trailing end presents another thread deflecting surface 29' which protrudes below tape and extends fouwardly to blend into surface 26. Thus the combination of the tape, thrust block and carrier assembled in the manner described and with the various yarn deflecting surfaces outlined above, eliminates all possibilities of interference with either the warp threads or the filling yarn being inserted. As the carrier is being withdrawn from the closing shed the upper warp threads are caused to be cammed up on surface 28 and thence onto surface 27'. Likewise the lower warp threads are caused to be carnmed downwardly by surface 29 and pass along this lower portion to surface 26 whereat they are received by the thread deflecting surfaces 3% and 31 which extend rearwardly from recess 27 and conform generally to the inwardly tapered end 32 of the flexible tape 16.

The invention has been described in more or less specific terms and by reference to its application to a particular type of shuttleless loom. It is to be understood, however, that these looms take varying forms and instead of fiexible tapes the carriers may be reciprocated by relatively stiff and straight elements such as needles and the actual carriers themselves and the filling handling devices may be drastically modified so long as the general principles of operation remain the same.

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive concept may be carried out in a number of ways. This invention is, therefore, not to be limited to the precise details described, but is intended to embrace all variations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. For a loom having reciprocable carriers by which filling from an outside source of supply is placed within sheds formed by warp threads, a filling carrier and a carrier inserting member, a carrier holding element forming the tip of the free end of said carrier inserting member, said filling carrier being detachably mounted to said carrier holding element.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said carrier holding element is formed in the shape of a wedgedike thrust block, said filling carrier being provided with a formed opening whose internal structure conforms to the contour of said thrust block, said thrust block being adapted to be received by said formed opening, and a means provided therein for anchoring said filling carrier to said thrust block.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said anchoring means includes a threaded bolt construction for locking said filling carrier and said thrust block together as a unit.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said carrier and said carrier holding element are provided with thread deflecting surfaces for preventing interference with said warp threads as said carrier is inserted into said shed and withdrawn therefrom.

5. For a loom having reciprocable carriers mounted on flexible tapes by which filling from an outside source of supply is inserted within sheds formed by warp threads, a detachable filling extending carrier adapted to insert a loop of filling part way through a warp shed which includes a first member comprising front and rear side portions, notched upper. and lower portions, said notched lower portion being provided at its trailing end with a formed aperture, a second member forming a thrust block integral with the free end of said flexible tape, said thrust block adapted to be received by said formed aperture and a means provided within said two members for locking said second member within the confines of said formed aperture in said first member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,762,377 Ashton June it 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS 641,440 France Apr. 16, 1928 475,646 Germany Apr. 27, 1929 372,250 Great Britain May 5, 1932 570,457 Great Britain "July 9, 1945 

1. FOR A LOOM HAVING RECIPROCABLE CARRIERS BY WHICH FILLING FROM AN OUTSIDE SOURCE OF SUPPLY IS PLACED WITHIN SHEDS FORMED BY WARP THREADS, A FILLING CARRIER AND A CARRIER INSERTING MEMBER, A CARRIER HOLDING ELEMENT FORMING THE TIP OF THE FREE END OF SAID CARRIER INSERTING MEMBER, SAID FILLING CARRIER BEING DETACHABLY MOUNTED TO SAID CARRIER HOLDING ELEMENT. 